极客时间和极客学院_如何保持作家工作效率的极客指南

极客时间和极客学院

People often ask me how I stay productive with all the different things I have going on—and between How-To Geek, Lifehacker, a day job, and now Productive Geek, there’s definitely a lot to get done every day. Here’s my tips on how I get things done.

人们经常问我如何保持我所从事的所有不同工作的生产力—在How-To Geek，Lifehacker，一份日常工作以及如今的Productive Geek之间，每天肯定有很多事情要做。 这是我如何完成工作的提示。

Keep in mind that this is what works for me, and might not work for you or apply to your situation at all. Also note that I’m guilty of being very unproductive a good portion of the time.

请记住，这就是对我有用的方法，可能对您不起作用或根本不适用于您的情况。 另请注意，我大部分时间都没有生产力，对此我深感内。

创建一个想法数据库 (Create an Ideas Database)

The single most important tool that keeps you productive as a writer is a database of ideas. I’m using a piece of software called ActionOutline, but EverNote, OneNote, Google Docs, or any number of other tools will do the job admirably—you could probably use Notepad if you felt like it, since the real problem isn’t the tool you use, it’s you. It doesn’t matter how great your tool is if you never use it!

使您成为作家的最有效的最重要工具是思想数据库。 我正在使用一个名为ActionOutline的软件，但是EverNote ， OneNote ，Google Docs或任何其他工具都可以出色地完成这项工作-如果您愿意，可以使用记事本，因为真正的问题不是您使用的工具就是您。 如果您从未使用过它，那么工具有多好都没有关系！

Once you’ve chosen a tool—which you should not spend a ton of time worrying about, just pick one and get started—you will need to force yourself to write down every single idea for a few weeks. Make it a point of doing research and putting ALL your ideas into the application every time. It doesn’t even matter how organized you are when you start—when I first started using ActionOutline, I just dumped ideas into a massive list and then organized them later. The point is to capture all of your ideas so they will never be forgotten, and you can build on them later.

一旦选择了一种工具(您不必花费大量时间担心，只需选择一个工具并开始使用)，就需要强迫自己写下每个想法几个星期。 使其成为研究的重点，每次都将您的所有想法放入应用程序中。 您开始时的组织结构甚至都没关系-当我第一次开始使用ActionOutline时，我只是将想法转储到大量列表中，然后在以后进行组织。 关键是要抓住您的所有想法，以使它们永远不会被遗忘，您以后可以在它们的基础上继续前进。

I’ve taken it a step further, and put pretty much everything into my database—the best part about using an outliner is being able to organize things in a very organized hierarchy. I simply put the idea title on the left, and then I add my notes over on the right-hand side, which allows me to segment random ideas about the article from the more solidified idea for the article subject.

我已经迈出了一步，并将几乎所有内容都放到了数据库中-使用大纲显示工具的最佳部分是能够以非常有条理的层次结构组织事物。 我只是将想法标题放在左侧，然后在右边添加注释，这使我可以将关于该主题的随机想法与更牢固的文章主题区分开。

It doesn’t really matter how you decide to keep your database structured, the point is that you actually do it, and force yourself to stick with it for a few weeks. Once you’ve done that, you’ll figure out just how awesome it really is, and you’ll be sold on the idea.

决定如何保持数据库结构并不重要，关键在于您实际上是在这样做，并迫使自己坚持使用几个星期。 完成此操作后，您将发现它的确有多棒，并且您将被这个想法所吸引。

选择待办事项列表方法，并坚持使用 (Pick a Todo List Method, and Stick With It)

When it comes to picking a good way to keep track of all the things you have to do, it’s really the same as picking your ideas database—it doesn’t matter which one you choose, it’s all about just using the tool that you picked. Any of them will work, including a blank piece of paper and a pen—which is exactly what I used the first 2 years of being a writer. I’ve finally converted over to Remember the Milk and I’m a huge fan—but again, just pick something and go with it.

在选择一种好的方法来跟踪您必须做的所有事情时，它实际上与选择您的想法数据库相同—不管选择哪个数据库，都只不过是使用您选择的工具。 他们中的任何一个都可以使用，包括一张空白的纸和一支笔，这正是我当作家的前两年所使用的。 我终于转换为“记住牛奶”了，我是一个忠实的粉丝-但是，再次选择一些东西就可以了。

The biggest reason I use RTM is that I can create a custom list with just the most important tasks, so I’m not staring at a list of things that I shouldn’t be working on right now. It’s not quite the same as GTD’s “Next Actions”, but it’s very similar in use—I only show tasks that are currently due, or tasks with no due date that are also high priority.

我使用RTM的最大原因是我可以创建一个仅包含最重要任务的自定义列表，因此我不会盯着我现在不应该处理的事情。 它与GTD的“下一步操作”并不完全相同，但是用法非常相似-我只显示当前到期的任务，或者没有到期日期的任务也具有较高的优先级。

My tasks generally include all of the non-writing tasks that I have to do, unless I’ve got a deadline on an article—for instance, I’ve usually got a task reminding me to write my Monday feature over at Lifehacker.

我的任务通常包括我必须做的所有非写作任务，除非我有一篇文章的截止日期，例如，我通常有一个任务提醒我在Lifehacker上写我的星期一专题。

清空收件箱(进入待办事项列表/想法数据库) (Empty Your Inbox (Into Your Todo List / Idea Database))

If you really want to keep on top of everything there is to do, you should make a point of keeping your inbox nice and clean. And no, I don’t mean that you should clean it because it frees your mind up or any of that personal development nonsense—the very simple reason is that you need to keep your idea database populated with everything.

如果您真的想掌握所有要做的事情，则应注意使收件箱保持整洁美观。 而且，我并不是说您应该清理它，因为它可以解放您的思想或任何个人发展的废话，这很简单，原因是您需要使想法数据库中充满所有内容。

I’ve got a recurring task in RTM that reminds me each day to go through my inbox and find everything actionable and move it over to RTM… anything else is probably just a thought or idea, and that belongs in your ideas database. When a reader writes in with a tip, which they often do, I simply move those over to my ideas database for later, unless they are really time sensitive, which gets them moved over to RTM.

我在RTM中有一个经常性的任务，它使我每天都想起我的收件箱，查找所有可操作的内容并将其移到RTM中……其他任何东西都可能只是一个想法或想法，并且属于您的想法数据库。 当读者经常写提示时，除非他们确实对时间敏感，否则我只是将它们移到我的想法数据库中供以后使用，除非它们确实对时间敏感，这使他们移至RTM。

The one folder you’ll see in the screenshot is the Followup folder, which I simply use as a dumping ground for everything that I’m possibly going to need to find quickly again because it might require a response. I’ll be honest, though, I’ve started simply starring messages instead because I can do so more easily from my Android phone, and with Gmail’s amazing search there’s almost no reason to do either.

您将在屏幕快照中看到的一个文件夹是Followup文件夹，我只是将其用作所有可能很快需要再次查找的所有内容的垃圾场，因为它可能需要响应。 不过，老实说，我只是开始对邮件加注星标，因为我可以通过Android手机更轻松地进行注视，而Gmail的搜索功能惊人，几乎没有理由这么做。

与朋友和在线伙伴进行头脑风暴 (Brainstorming with Friends and Online Buddies)

I’ll admit it, I spend wayyyy too much time online talking to people on IM, and while it’s often a terrible time-waster, it’s also a good way to keep yourself motivated. Most of my online buddies are also tech writers, bloggers, or just plain old geeks, and anytime I need inspiration, ideas, or feedback I can simply hit one of them up and get an honest opinion.

我承认，我花太多时间在IM上与人们聊天，虽然这通常是浪费时间，但它也是保持动力的好方法。 我大多数的在线好友都是技术作家，博客作者，或者只是普通的老怪人，并且只要我需要灵感，想法或反馈，我都可以轻松地挑出其中的一个并获得诚实的意见。

The point is to surround yourself with people that do the same thing you’re doing, because the competition will make you more motivated to do a better job.

关键是要让自己和做着同样事情的人在一起，因为竞争会使您更有动力去做更好的工作。

卡住时该怎么办 (What to Do When You Get Stuck)

Writer’s block is an inevitable problem for anybody trying to write on a daily basis, and it’s not so much a problem as a symptom of not following through on your ideas database. If you simply put every single idea you have into the database, you’ll never run out of material—just open up your ideas list, and start looking through the hundreds or thousands of ideas you’ve written down. It won’t take long before you come up with a good topic to start writing about.

对于任何试图每天进行写作的人来说，作家的障碍都是一个不可避免的问题，这与其说是不遵循您的想法数据库的症状，不如说是一个问题。 如果您仅将每个想法都放入数据库中，则您将永远不会用完所有材料，只需打开想法列表，然后开始浏览您写下的成百上千个想法。 您很快就会想到一个不错的话题来开始写作。

Your idea database will help feed you great ideas, but sometimes the problem isn’t coming up with an idea for an article as much as actually writing it. The trick I’ve always used is to start anywhere in the article other than the beginning. Write the last line, find a screenshot for the middle, or just start at Step 1: Click the Start Button. It doesn’t really matter where you start, just write anything and the rest will follow. If you’re really stuck, maybe you need to pick up another article idea and get that first sentence written.

您的想法数据库将帮助您提供出色的想法，但有时问题并不能像撰写文章一样多地提出文章的想法。 我一直使用的技巧是从文章的开头而不是开头开始。 编写最后一行，找到中间的屏幕截图，或者仅从步骤1开始：单击开始按钮。 从哪里开始并不重要，只要写任何东西，其余的都将随之而来。 如果您真的被卡住了，也许您需要选择另一个文章构想，并写下第一句话。

Note: If you’re writing for a news site, obviously the ideas database isn’t going to help you find new, fresh content. That’s where Google Reader comes in really handy.

注意：如果您是为新闻网站撰稿，那么Ideas数据库显然不会帮助您找到新的新鲜内容。 那就是Google Reader派上用场的地方。

阅读，阅读和更多阅读 (Read, Read, and More Reading)

It’s very important in the tech blogging world to keep yourself up to date with everything that’s going on, and nothing is quite as great as the accessible-anywhere Google Reader. The problem, however, is that it’s easy to get overloaded with way too much, especially when most of your favorite sites post 25 times a day. The best way to keep up with the overload is a “tiered” approach.

在技​​术博客世界中，使自己与时俱进是非常重要的，没有什么比可访问的Google Reader更好。 但是，问题在于，过多的事情很容易使过载，尤其是当您最喜欢的网站每天发布25次时。 应对过载的最佳方法是“分层”方法。

What I do is create a “favorites” folder that contains really important feeds that I want to immediately pay attention to, and those are the only feeds where I actually read every post. I make a point of keeping this folder nice and tidy so I’m not wasting my time. I’ve also got a “Primary Sources” folder, which contains all of the most frequently useful sources, and then the rest are organized into big groups. 

我要做的是创建一个“收藏夹”文件夹，其中包含我要立即关注的非常重要的提要，而这些是我实际阅读每篇帖子的唯一提要。 我要使这个文件夹保持整洁，以免浪费时间。 我还有一个“主要来源”文件夹，其中包含所有最常用的来源，然后将其余部分组织成大组。

Whenever I’m looking for an article topic over at Lifehacker, and I don’t already have something in mind, I can always check through my Primary Sources folder first to see if there’s anything worth writing about. If that comes up dry, which isn’t that often, I can head into my other folders to see what else might have slipped by me.

每当我在Lifehacker上寻找文章主题时，如果我还没有想到什么，我总是可以先检查我的Primary Sources文件夹，看看是否有值得写的东西。 如果出现这种情况(这种情况很少见)，我可以进入其他文件夹，看看其他可能滑倒的东西。

It’s a great way to keep up with the latest news, but not get overloaded. I highly recommend it.

这是跟上最新消息的好方法，但又不会超载。 我强烈推荐它。

生产力是在做，而不是胡说八道 (Productivity is about DOING, not Blathering Nonsense)

When it comes right down to it, the most important piece of advice I can give you is this: Stop Being Lazy. Just Do Something Already!

说到它，我能给你的最重要的建议是： 停止懒惰。 刚做某事！

It doesn’t matter how organized you are, how many ideas you have, or how well you’ve kept up with all the latest news—if you don’t get to work now, you will never get anything done. Stop worrying about whether you are going about it the right way, if you’re going to fail, or whether anybody will care. If you believe in your ideas and simply execute them, you’ll be 90% of the way there—and you can always change course if you need to.

无论您有多有组织，有多少想法，或者您对所有最新新闻的了解程度如何，如果现在不上班，您将一事无成。 不必再担心是否要以正确的方式进行操作，是否要失败或是否有人会在乎。 如果您相信自己的想法并简单地执行它们，那么您将达到目标的90％，并且可以随时根据需要更改路线。

It’s just words on a page.

只是页面上的文字。

翻译自: https://www.howtogeek.com/53092/the-how-to-geek-guide-to-staying-productive-as-a-tech-writer/

极客时间和极客学院